Auto racer Scott Hargrove of Surrey on the podium after a race in the U.S. F2000 National Championship series, a developmental circuit.

METRO VANCOUVER — Driver’s ed for Scott Hargrove is different than most Grade 12 students at Surrey Christian school.

His alternative classes involve strategy sessions, reflex drills, breathing exercises and seat time in an open-wheeled race car as a driver in the U.S. F2000 National Championship series, a developmental circuit that Hargrove hopes will put him on the grid in the Izod IndyCar Series one day.

“It’s a lofty goal, but I’m pushing for it. I think we can do,” said Hargrove, who certainly has started his season on the right track.

In four races to date, the 18-year-old Surrey native has taken the checkered flag three times, including a F2000 event at St. Petersburg, Fla. in March, where Canadian drivers scored a unique double. The main event — the Honda Grand Prix — was won by James Hinchcliffe, the Oakville, Ont., racer who is in his third season in the premier open-wheel racing series in North America.

Driving for Andretti Motorsports, Hinchcliffe has won twice on the IndyCar circuit this season, his second victory coming in Sao Paulo, Brazil on May 5. The 26-year-old had one of the fastest times in practice this week for the Indianapolis 500, where raw horsepower, the high pitch of engines and the smell of burning rubber is nirvana to more than 300,000 fans at the Brickyard in the last Sunday of May.

“I’ve followed Hinch’s career. He’s a guy we look up to,” Hargrove said. “He’s really good with the media and self-promotion, which was what you really need to do in this business.”

Hargrove will also be in the Indianapolis area next weekend, just west of the Brickyard at the Lucas Oil Raceway for The Night Before the 500 event on Saturday. The speedfest features midget race cars, the Pro Mazda series and a 75-lap U.S. F2000 race on the five-eighths mile track.

The F2000 series is the first rung on a three-step ladder leading to IndyCar. Successful graduates move on to Pro Mazda, Firestone Indy Lights and then the higher-tech Izod IndyCar Series, which roared through city streets in Vancouver from 1990-2004 when it was known as the CART/Champ car series.

“My goal is get into IndyCar and make this area (southwestern British Columbia) more aware of motorsport again,” Hargrove said. “I’d like to be able to bring back some of that excitement and interest.”

No doubt, the hum and whine of motor racing in the Lower Mainland is not what it was. It reached its zenith when Michael Andretti, Al Unser Jr. Paul Tracy, Jacques Villeneuve and the late Greg Moore piloted sleek cars around False Creek before the Vancouver Molson Indy ultimately lost the race to condo construction.

Still, while the music died for the casual fan, a life of high-tech glamour still seduces a new generation of Vancouver area racers who have come up through the ranks of go-karting. Hargrove, Remo Ruscitti, who races in the Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car series, and Grand-Am driver Adam Isman got into the sport through their association with Italian Motors, a go-kart shop in east Vancouver run by the Valiante family.

More than a decade ago, Michael Valiante, now 33, was poised to become the next big Canadian name in IndyCar racing. But he came of age just after Player’s pulled out of its promotion of Canadian drivers, and a time when the series was in turmoil. He drove unsuccessfully for two uncompetitive, backmarker teams, Walker Racing and Dale Coyne Racing, before taking his recognized talents to the Grand-Am and American Le Mans series.

“It seemed like Michael Valiante made his way to where he needed to be, and then it fell apart,” Hargove said. “It was hard. I’ve always looked up to him. Michael can get into anything and make it go fast ... and he’s been a big influence in my career. Racing go-karts is still the best way to learn how to race, to keep sharp and make your reaction time quicker. Everything happens faster in a go-kart.”

Valiante teaches racecraft at the family-owned Sumas International Motorsport Academy, a technically challenging, 17-corner go-kart track just across the U.S. border from Abbotsford, that is a proving ground series for ambitious young racers. Indeed, Hargrove continues to train there between F2000 races.

“There are three steps to get to IndyCar,” Hargrove said. “That’s the unique thing about this program. If I win the championship this year, I’ll have all my racing paid for at the next level (Pro Mazda). It’s unique anywhere in the world.”

Still drifting his way through the D-leagues of motorsport but loaded with upside, Hargrove intends to apply for university entrance this fall. But he likely will put off post-secondary education for some time if his driving career continues to purr.

“It’s a great start,” Valiante said of Hargrove’s early success. “I don’t think it’s premature to say that. For any driver starting out, you have to have a lot of money, or a lot of talent. Talent is the No. 1 thing. When you win races, it takes care of a lot of other things. Scott’s winning. He’s doing exactly what he needs to do to make his way up the ladder.”